Beyond Isolation
by Tashii Cat
Summary: Even after everyone survived the ordeal at Blackwood Pines, scars on their flesh and minds remain. It's just a matter of overcoming the traumatic experience that plagues the teenagers while they're awake and in their sleep. Trigger Warnings will be announced at the beginning of any chapter that has them.
1. Chapter 1 - Mike

Mike found it more difficult to listen to the reverend sugar coat Josh like he never did anything wrong. Sure it was _his_ empty coffin funeral but to hide what Josh was really like infuriated Mike. It's as if everyone denied everything about the nasty business on the mountain. Of course, he wasn't going to stand up and announce how this was all wrong. Instead, Mike glanced at Mrs. Washington, who wept into her husband's shoulder. Mr. Washington held her hand and solemnly gazed at the cherry wood coffin. The last thing they needed was the image of their son to be tainted in front of so many people. They've already suffered enough. So Mike turned his attention to the impressive and colourful flower displays down the aisle and the huge amount of people around him. Not all the seats were filled at least seventy-five percent if everyone was forced to fill the rows.

He spotted Chris and Ashley together at the other side of the central aisle and neither looked any better. Ashley, in a black dress accompanied by a cardigan, hadn't let go of Chris' suit jacket, as a mix of eyeliner and tears streaked her cheeks. Their fingers intertwined with each other's, but Chris' dazed expression suggested his mind was miles away from the church.

Mike didn't want to understand why Chris was there after all the abuse he suffered but he knew anyway. Josh was (or rather had been) Chris' best friend and the fact that he chose to look for him with the old man, proved he must have felt sorry for the guy they called a maniac.

Mike still thought Josh was a psychopath but even he had a slight change of heart when he and Sam watched him scream at things only he could see.

"Mike, are you okay?" The familiar whisper turned Mike's head towards a concerned Sam. He almost forgot she was there at all. In fact, the reverend's muffled mumbles became clear to the youngster's ears. He must have been deep into his thoughts. Mike took one more glimpse at the despondent Chris and Ashley before he returned his gaze to Sam and silently nodded.

When the funeral service moved out into the drizzling rain to bury the coffin, it became obvious to Mike that Emily and Matt were nowhere to be seen. It was understandable considering neither of them was close to Josh. After his so-called 'pranks' left them as shaken up as everyone else, they didn't think he deserved their respect. In a way, Mike let out a sigh of relief; he didn't want to be confronted about how he nearly shot Emily in the face.

Matt, on the other hand, was a nice enough guy, even after Mike scared the absolute living shit out of him and Emily in the beginning. How on earth a doormat like him got together with someone so vindictive was anyone's guess. Either way, Mike had a newfound respect for Matt when he carried an exhausted and battered Jess on his back.

She got away with cuts and bruises but the wendigos managed to steal all the confidence she had. Mike offered to escort her to the funeral service but she refused to leave the house. He didn't blame her for not wanting to go; who'd want to subject themselves to anything that bought up painful memories?

Mike noticed from another glance that Chris and Ashley weren't near the crowd but was close enough to watch the coffin lower into the rectangular hole. Mrs. Washington wailed into her husband as the reverend concluded with words of inspiration and reassurance to the rest of the attendees. Sam, on the other hand, stayed close to Mike even as everyone left to go to the wake.

At that point Chris and Ashley were nowhere to be seen and why should they? Turning up to mourn the death of a supposed friend who hurt them was a hard enough task. It was emotionally draining for everyone who came. Mike's hands hid in his black trouser pockets as whispers from the other guests irritated his ears.

"First the twins, now Josh. The Washingtons aren't having the best of luck aren't they?"

"You don't suppose he committed suicide over his guilt, do you?"

"His friends haven't mentioned anything about how he disappeared or died for that matter. The police are keeping it under wraps."

If Sam hadn't have spoken to him then, Mike would have lost his temper and composure. He would have yelled about how frightened he was when he watched the wendigo drag Josh screaming for help.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" Her voice snapped Mike back to the cemetery. He took a moment to let his agitation dissipate before he let out an exasperated sigh with his hand on his forehead.

"I'm good thanks," Mike replied as his hand left his face and turned to Sam. "So are you going to the wake?" Sam raised a small smile and tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"I don't know. I want to go and pay my respects to Josh's parents but I think me being there would remind them that Hannah, Beth, and Josh are gone." She paused and looked away with a guilty expression on her face. Mike turned his eyes to the ground with just as much remorse.

"When Chris and I tied Josh up in the shed, I never thought about shooting him. Okay, I pointed the gun at him when he started to disrespect Jess but it was only to scare him, honest," he quietly confessed as Sam gave him a look that he assumed was a disappointment.

"Well at least you didn't do shoot, Josh, and Emily," she sighed. What Sam didn't know was that after she said that, Mike realized his own hypocrisy when it came to hiding his potentially fatal choices that night.


	2. Chapter 2 - Ashley

**SPOILER/TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE**

!

Ashley couldn't leave Chris alone even after they had gone their separate ways from Josh's funeral. As soon as she entered inside the blue walled hallway, the brunette threw a brief greeting at her parents while she bee-lined for the stairs. Her mother and father only had seconds to reply before their daughter disappeared at the top. They decided to try again later when she was ready.

Once Ashley burst into her room and snatched her mobile phone from her tidy desk, she scrolled through her contacts and pressed Chris' name. She held it up to her ear as she reclined on her once perfectly made bed. Her free hand fidgeted with the white duvet cover with pink and blue flowers arranged in a neat pattern until she heard him say her name.

"Hey Chris. Sorry for calling you like this. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Ashley apologized and moved her hand to the tips of her long hair.

"Yeah, um… could you hang on a sec? I was just getting a drink."

"Sure," The girl nodded and listened to the background noise at her boyfriend's kitchen. From the sound of the spraying and splashing in a glass, she guessed he was getting water from the kitchen sink. The pitch rose the more he filled the glass, before the sudden turn of the handle stopped its highest pitch from reaching its climax and spillage. Ashley's ears pricked at another set of approaching footsteps.

"Hi mom," Chris finally spoke although it was quieter than when he was talking to his girlfriend.

"Hi sweetie. Are you talking to Ashley? Hi Ashley!" Ashley imagined his mother's smooth and gentle voice radiating in motherly love. She knew she cared for Chris a lot, especially after what happened up on the mountain.

"Hi Mrs Wenhaston," Ashley said before wincing at the sound of Chris scraping his phone across the worktop.

"I'm gonna head upstairs," He said in a subdued tone. There was a small pause until his mother spoke again.

"All right. Just make sure you bring the glass back into the kitchen after you're done with it."

"I will."

Ashley could tell he left the kitchen since she no longer heard his feet tap across the tiled floor. The footsteps turned into soft thumps up the carpet stairs until the door (to what she believed to be Chris' room) squeaked open and clicked shut seconds after.

Ashley assumed her boyfriend flopped onto his bed, though she picked up the sound of many clacks in some kind of plastic container. "You've got Pop Mints?" Despite herself, the girl let out a small giggle. He loved those sweets.

"Wow. You caught me," Chris laughed down the receiver. It was faint but Ashley heard the white capsules fall onto the blue duvet cover with a whoosh. There was a small pause until Chris finally spoke. "So were you just checking up on me," His voice sounded muffled before he gulped, "or was there something else on your mind?" Ashley twirled her hair in between her fingers and focused on the ends.

"I just…" She sighed and tried to find the right words to say. "I guess I wanted to just hear your voice. I know it sounds dumb but I feel… I don't know."

"You feel like you can't not talk about the funeral with me, is that what you're saying?" Chris interjected. He wasn't making an accusation but stating a fact. As much as Ashley wanted to deny it, it was the truth. It was hard not to talk about that and Josh's disappearance.

"If you want, I could leave you to let things settle and-"

"It's fine. I think we should talk it out any way, get things off our chests," Chris said before he finished with another gulp. Ashley propped her head on her hand as her elbow planted itself on her knee.

"So… what did you think of the service?" She knew asking her boyfriend whether it did Josh any justice was a mockery of everything that happened to them. It was bad enough that Chris saw at least one person die before his eyes, although the circular saw slicing through the dummy Josh's body came a close second. The whole incident from the cruel prank to the fight for survival provided him with enough nightmare fuel for his dreams. Ashley waited for Chris' response after listening to him swallow twice.

"I think it was okay. Could have gone a lot worse."

"Well that reverend certainly made Josh out to be the victim. If only people knew how much of a psycho he really was," the agitation rose in her voice until she realized who she was talking to. "Sorry. I'm just… I didn't like it when he hid the truth from everyone else. I know Josh was your best friend-"

"Josh could still be alive. No one's found him yet," Chris gulped twice again after.

"I really don't want to say this but Josh would have froze to death if those things-" Ashley suddenly stopped when she heard her boyfriend's breathing and swallows quicken. She stayed silent until it sounded like Chris calmed down before she continued. "There's a very slim chance that he's still alive on that mountain, that's all."

"Ash…" Chris' voice strained. He took another gulp along with some deep breaths. "Do you know what the butterfly effect is?"

Ashley was unsure and confused by the change of direction their conversation was taking but he sounded so vulnerable that she was willingly obliged him.

"Does it have something to do with cause and effect?" she replied. It sounded more like a question than an answer.

"I was just thinking… what if the prank last year never happened?" His voice croaked before he swallowed. "What if we never played that prank on Hannah?"

Ashley raised her eyebrows. She didn't expect to hear Chris' slight sobs and sniffling.

Why was he talking about _that_ of all things? "Chris…"

"Hannah wouldn't have run outside, Beth wouldn't have gone to look for her and both of them wouldn't have died. They'd still be alive and Josh wouldn't have been depressed. He wouldn't have had to take pills or go to the doctors. He wouldn't have planned those horrible pranks…" Another gulp interrupted his cries.

"Chris, that's all in the past," Ashley grew more concerned, her knuckles turning white as she gripped her mobile phone.

"Maybe we could have done more to help him. I could have done a lot more... I thought I helped him out the best I could but Josh was right… I am pathetic… I let him down…"

"No, Chris. You've let no one down. Josh did that himself. And you're not pathetic. You're anything but that." Ashley struggled to suppress her own pain in her voice.

"I know you don't want to remember this but back at the saw mill… with the gun… I meant what I said about spending time with you… none of it was wasted… it was all I wanted to do…" Chris' voice trembled. He also sounded exhausted.

Ashley wiped the streaming tears from her cheeks with the heel of her hand. She never imagined Chris would confess his feelings for her in such grim circumstances. "Chris…" she stifled a sob. The girl wanted to tell him both of them would get through this, that they'd both be okay. Everything would go back to normal and they'd both be happy together.

"Ash… I…" Chris exhaled down the receiver. Ashley waited for the end of the sentence when she winced at a thump down the speaker. That worried her.

"Chris?" She timidly whispered and waited more. No response. Panic welled in her chest. "Chris!?" The girl yelled until she heard the creak of the door on the line.

"Chris I've been calling you for several-" The last thing Ashley heard on the phone was a woman screaming for help.

!

 **A/N: I'm so sorry. I know I said this was going to be dark but this was originally going to happen a lot later on in the story. I just thought the story would develop more if this happened earlier on, even if it has to be on the second chapter. It reminds me of episode three of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (laughs).**

 **In all seriousness, I've tried to make this chapter emotional yet respectable enough to the issues at hand. I just hope I've achieved that balance between the two.**


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